SoundExchange and SENA Ink Agreement for Independent Labels

U.S. Nonprofit and Dutch collecting society will now exchange royalties for sound recording copyright holders.

Washington – SoundExchange, the independent nonprofit performance rights organization, and SENA, the collection society representing recording artists and producers in the Netherlands, have announced an agreement signed today providing an easier way for the copyright holders of sound recordings to be paid for the use of their work in each partner country.

The reciprocal rights agreement, one of several SoundExchange has helped coordinate, governs how countries exchange royalties owed to content creators when work made in one country is used by another. The two societies already have a reciprocal agreement with respect to recording artists.

“SoundExchange is proud to have realized another step in securing the rights of our members to get paid when they get played – whenever that place may take place,” said SoundExchange Executive Director John Simson. “Broadening our partnership with SENA is a reflection of our organizations’ shared goals to fairly compensate artists and rights holders who bring us the music we enjoy the world over.”

“The implementation of the WPPT means that U.S. repertoire will be given greater protection in the Netherlands and all of the EU,” said Hans van Berkel, Managing Director of SENA, who visited SoundExchange’s Washington office today to complete the agreement. “With greater protection should come greater revenues for U.S. independent labels.”

“We’re very excited that the EU’s implementation of the treaty [the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty] will create a bigger revenue stream for U.S. artists and independent labels,” Simson continued.

Many countries have been hesitant to enter reciprocal rights agreements with the United States because, unlike all other developed countries, U.S. law does not yet recognize the right of artists and copyright holders to be compensated for over-the-air radio play. This lack of reciprocity has cost U.S. artists and independent labels billions of dollars over the past decades.

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About SoundExchange: SoundExchange is the non-profit performance rights organization that collects statutory royalties from satellite radio, internet radio, cable TV music channels and other services that stream sound recordings. The Copyright Royalty Board, created by Congress, has entrusted SoundExchange as the only entity in the United States to collect and distribute these digital performance royalties for featured recording artists and master rights owners. SoundExchange currently represents over 5,000 record labels, over 43,000 featured artists, and has paid out more than $360 million in royalties since its creation in 2003.